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Tech News 2Night 132 (Transcript)

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Tonight! Amazon Unlimited is officially launched, the Chrome browser could be zapping your battery life, and what's all the fuss over Airbnb's new logo?
Tech News 2Night is Next!
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This is Tech News 2Night Episode #132, for Friday July 18, 2014
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I'm Jason Howell, Let's get right to the Tech Feed!
The European Union checked in on Google and Apple to track each company's progress as they implement ways to prevent unintended purchases in their app stores. The EU says that Google has done a good job addressing those concerns, as the company plans to implement changes starting September that will further improve the situation… things like listing an app that doesn't charge for the download but still offers in-app purchases as something other than "free" on the Play Store. Apple, on the other hand, was given a wag of the finger, with the EU stating that the company hasn't offered adequate protection to the problem, something that can result in situations where children rack up thousands of dollars of in-app purchases on their parent's dime, among other costly actions. Apple responded to the EU's dour analysis by stating that its creation of a Kids Section, as well as clearly listing that an app has in-app purchases, go above and beyond its industry rivals.
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Anyone with a device running Google's Chrome OS may be able to look forward to a refresh of the user experience sometime in the near future, according to Fran-Swah Boo-Foh, Chromium evangelist at Google. He posted a screenshot of a completely revamped Chrome OS, codenamed Athena, that brings the look of Android's stacked cards interface to the OS with bookmarks that line the bottom of the screen, and Boo-Foh gave instructions on how users can check out its progress by compiling the source code for themselves. This follows previous reports that shared other details of the Athena project, including things like an onscreen keyboard, touch gestures, and a split-screen mode.
And if you've ever noticed that your battery life suffered on your
Window's machine, it's very possible that the Chrome browser could have
been the culprit. Forbes contributor Ian Morris noticed a battery drain
issue with Chrome for Windows, where Chrome would refused to idle when
not in use, running the processor unnecessarily and draining the
battery. Google has stated that the bug is now assigned and the Chrome
team is working on a fix.
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China’s Baidu, the search engine mostly unheard of on this side of the world, kicks-off in Brazil today (get it, kicking, soccer). Baidu holds a 60 percent share in China and also launched in Japan where Google and Yahoo are dominant. The Portuguese language version will target Brazil’s 200 million citizen where Google currently holds a 98 percent share of search according to Internet marketing firm Return On Now. Baidu plans on setting up a research center in the country and wants to partner with local universities, a spokesman said. The company hopes to become a household name, which is unique among Chinese internet firms and also intends to launch in Thailand and Egypt next month.
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It was just a week ago that Lyft received a cease-and-desist order on the day the company planned to launch in New York City. Today, New York Supreme Court Judge Kathryn Freed ordered Lyft and the Taxi and Limousine Commission to work out an agreement. Lyft’s spokeswoman Erin Simpson said, “We will continue to collaborate with all parties on a path forward for Lyft in New York.” Lyft has agreed to figure out a way to operate under the current TLC rules. So we’ll see, there is no launch date set, yet it looks like there is a good chance you will see those fuzzy pink mustaches on cars in Brooklyn and Queens.
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Coming up, is a one-word App worth any money? Why some investors believe so and how much Yo has raised...
Next I'll chat with Harrison Weber from VentureBeat about Amazon Unlimited and on a story he broke on Airbnb's rebranding... but first
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[Segment #2]
Alright, I want to welcome to the show Harrison Weber, News Editor, VentureBeat.
First up, you wrote about Amazon's new all-you-can-read eBook service, Kindle Unlimited. Before it was legit, Amazon did everyone a solid by leaking the info through its own site.
- But, now that it's official, Harrison, tell us what we need to know about the service.
- Does this include all book in Amazon's catalog or just some books from some publishers?
Moving on to a story you broke and have covered at length. Airbnb redesigned their logo. Four days ago you published a story about their rebranding. Now that the logo is out, its getting a lot of comments. Many people have compared it to, ahem, body parts. And today you posted a story on how some top designers see this redesign.
- What was their take, both on the logo and the controversy surrounding it?
- Some designers see the sexual connotations as a good thing and possibly even intentional, is that right?
- In your article you mentioned the iPad as a product name that was fiercly ridiculed when it was introduced and later just became normal. Will this blow over for Airbnb and could it impact them long term?
- As they say ""no publicity is bad publicity,"" but how is Airbnb taking it? Are they rolling with the punches or are they fighting it in the press?"
[Kicker!]
Remember Yo? Its the messaging app that launched in April that allows users to do nothing but send their friends a push notification that says, you guess it, "Yo" and nothing more. Well, turns out that one trick pony is worth some money. With more than two million downloads, the company has secured a 1.5 million dollar seed round, with a 5-10 million dollar valuation. China's Tencent, Mashable founder Pete Cashmore, and Betaworks are among the few investors. John Borthwick of Betaworks envisions an app that pushes the boundaries of, perhaps, what could be a new notification system, stating that the notification layer is untapped territory and ripe for innovation. And I mean, let's face it. Yo can mean a lot of things. It could mean…. Yo. Or… yo. Or even yo! See?
[good bye] That's it for this edition of Tech News 2Night.
Subscribe to this show at Twit.tv/tn2, and write us at tn2@twit.tv
Don't miss our morning news program, Tech News Today, every weekday at 10am Pacific, 1 pm Eastern. I'm Jason Howell, thanks for watching.